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Find out if Windows 10 is limiting your Internet speed
If you noticed an Internet speed drop after upgrading to the latest version of Windows 10, the following troubleshooting guide may help resolve it.
It may be particularly useful if the Internet speed was fine on previous versions of Windows, and is no longer after the upgrade to Windows 10 Anniversary Update edition.
Microsoft introduced a feature called Window Auto-Tuning back in Windows Vista, and has made it part of any newer version of Windows as well.
Set to on by default, it is designed to improve performance for programs that receive TCP data over a network.
While data transfers should be more efficient as a general rule, users may experience slower than usual data transfer speeds under certain conditions or even connectivity issues.
Managing Window Auto-Tuning in Windows 10
The first thing you may want to do is check the status of Window Auto-Tuning. If it is turned off for instance, it is likely that it is not the case for the slow downs, but if it is set, it may very well be…
It may be particularly useful if the Internet speed was fine on previous versions of Windows, and is no longer after the upgrade to Windows 10 Anniversary Update edition.
Microsoft introduced a feature called Window Auto-Tuning back in Windows Vista, and has made it part of any newer version of Windows as well.
Set to on by default, it is designed to improve performance for programs that receive TCP data over a network.
While data transfers should be more efficient as a general rule, users may experience slower than usual data transfer speeds under certain conditions or even connectivity issues.
Managing Window Auto-Tuning in Windows 10
The first thing you may want to do is check the status of Window Auto-Tuning. If it is turned off for instance, it is likely that it is not the case for the slow downs, but if it is set, it may very well be…
StorDiag.exe: new Windows 10 Storage Diagnostic tool
StorDiag.exe is a new command line drive tool to analyze storage on devices running Windows 10 that Microsoft added silently to the Anniversary Update.
The program is a diagnostic tool that you may use to identify storage related issues. Issues that it may detect including corruption of the NTFS file system.
There is more to the program than that though. You may use it to run a an ETW trace as well, and check the logs, Registry files and event files StorDiag.exe creates when it is done with the processing.
The application runs several tools in the background for that, including CheckDisk, fsutil and fltmc.
Using StorDiag.exe
The application can only be run from an elevated command prompt. Since it is only available in Windows 10's Anniversary Edition, instructions are only provided for this particular version of Windows.
Step 1: Open an elevated command prompt
First thing you need to do is open an elevated command prompt.
Tap on the Windows-key, type cmd.exe, hold down the Ctrl and…
The program is a diagnostic tool that you may use to identify storage related issues. Issues that it may detect including corruption of the NTFS file system.
There is more to the program than that though. You may use it to run a an ETW trace as well, and check the logs, Registry files and event files StorDiag.exe creates when it is done with the processing.
The application runs several tools in the background for that, including CheckDisk, fsutil and fltmc.
Using StorDiag.exe
The application can only be run from an elevated command prompt. Since it is only available in Windows 10's Anniversary Edition, instructions are only provided for this particular version of Windows.
Step 1: Open an elevated command prompt
First thing you need to do is open an elevated command prompt.
Tap on the Windows-key, type cmd.exe, hold down the Ctrl and…
OpenStreetView launches
OpenStreetView is a free crowd-sourced service by OpenStreetMap that offers street imagery that users of the service push to it while using it.
OpenStreetMap is an open source alternative to Google Maps, Bing Maps and other mapping services. The new OpenStreetView however works different than services like Google StreetView despite the naming similarities.
The service uses imagery that users of it are providing instead of capturing street views using company cars in all regions of the world.
This means that you won't get a full view of a street, but only image captures. Also, the service does not cover all areas yet which means that you may not get imagery in many areas around the world.
That's going to change though when more and more users start to use it and push recorded images while driving to OpenStreetView.
The approach has two advantages over comparable services. First, you may get multiple shots of the same area and not just one. Second, and that is related to the fir…
OpenStreetMap is an open source alternative to Google Maps, Bing Maps and other mapping services. The new OpenStreetView however works different than services like Google StreetView despite the naming similarities.
The service uses imagery that users of it are providing instead of capturing street views using company cars in all regions of the world.
This means that you won't get a full view of a street, but only image captures. Also, the service does not cover all areas yet which means that you may not get imagery in many areas around the world.
That's going to change though when more and more users start to use it and push recorded images while driving to OpenStreetView.
The approach has two advantages over comparable services. First, you may get multiple shots of the same area and not just one. Second, and that is related to the fir…
Internet Connection speed tests with HTML5
It makes sense at time to check the connection speed of an Internet connection. Maybe you just got a new line, upgraded an existing one, or are traveling.
Maybe it is just for making sure that you get the advertised connection speed, or making sure that the hotel's Internet connection is sufficient for pushing that Gigabyte video to YouTube or a company server.
Most Internet speed tests up until now used Adobe Flash to power the tests. While that worked, it required Adobe Flash to work at all.
The rise of HTML5 brought along with it services that either added a HTML5 version on top of the existing version, or created new solutions based purely on HTML5.
HTML5 Internet Connection Speed tests The following guide lists some of the services that provide you with plugin-free speed tests using HTML5.
All tests conducted on an idle machine with 50 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up.
Bandwidth Place
The service tests the upload and download speed, and the ping. The download speed measured was the lowes…
Maybe it is just for making sure that you get the advertised connection speed, or making sure that the hotel's Internet connection is sufficient for pushing that Gigabyte video to YouTube or a company server.
Most Internet speed tests up until now used Adobe Flash to power the tests. While that worked, it required Adobe Flash to work at all.
The rise of HTML5 brought along with it services that either added a HTML5 version on top of the existing version, or created new solutions based purely on HTML5.
HTML5 Internet Connection Speed tests The following guide lists some of the services that provide you with plugin-free speed tests using HTML5.
All tests conducted on an idle machine with 50 Mbps down, 10 Mbps up.
Bandwidth Place
The service tests the upload and download speed, and the ping. The download speed measured was the lowes…
Do you Uninstall or Keep Software that you no longer use?
Have a look at the list of installed -- or portable -- programs on your system right now. Do you see programs on the list that you used in the past but no longer? Or programs that you never used even though they are installed or available?The All Apps listing of the Windows 10 Start Menu can for instance be a glaring reminder of programs sitting idly on your hard drive.There is nothing wrong with keeping most of the programs installed. While you may regain some hard drive space, usually up to a couple of hundred Megabytes unless we are talking games, there is little benefit other than that for most programs.Some programs on the other hand interact with the system or the Internet even if you don't use them. Think of auto-updating programs like web browsers that update frequently, or programs that add entries to menus in Explorer if you are using Windows.And then there are programs that may introduce security issues or other issues on your PC. If you keep Adobe Flash or Java install…
WinBOLT Automatic Maintenance Tool for Windows
WinBOLT is a free maintenance tool for Windows machines designed by its developer to automate as many maintenance related operations as possible.The program is portable, and you may run it right after you have downloaded it and extracted the contents of the archive to the local system. Please note that you need to run the program with elevated rights.Note: The program creates a directory on c:\ called WinBOLT where it places its files in.WinBOLT uses a command line window to display options to you. You are asked to accept the terms of service before you can start using it though.The program lists options as numbers in the interface, and separates them on pages to improve the application's accessibility.WinBOLTThe first page lists the main operations the program supports:Install Chocolatey (package manager for Windows to install programs).Run Windows Update and Chocolatey updates (will download and install all Windows updates, and Chocolatey core and program updates).Enable Mainten…